Seed-dispensing mechanism



Aug. 16, 1927.

w. A. VAN BRUNT SEED DISPENSI'NG MECHANISM yoriginal FiledJune 1oI 1918 y A ,e4 IE -3f 35 2.9 7 r ,1.5i A 30 Patented Aug. 16, 1927.

Unirse srarss XVILLARD A. VAN BRUNT, 0F LOS ANGELES,

CALIFORNIA, assrenoia Vrro VAN BRUN'r MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF HOEICON, XVISCONSIN, A CORPORATION 0F WIS- CONSIN.

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Original application iile. June-10, 1918, Serial No. 239,109. Divided and this application led September 4, 1 920. Serial No. 408,212.

This application is filed as a division of my application Serial No. 289,109, for im provements in seeding machines, iiledl June 10, 1918. y

This invention relates toY seed dispensing mechanisms of the type used for planting cereal crops such las wheat, rye, barley, oats, in which the4 individual kernels are carried by a sloping flange which is given a rotary movement for lcausing the kernels to drop one by one for delivery to the soil. The object of my invention is to provide an improv-ed apparatus so constructed that it may easily be adapted either for dispensing small seeds, like alfalfa, or larger seeds, such as beans. The preferred construction by which 1 have accomplished this object is illustrated in the drawings and is hereinafter spec1f ically described.y That which I believe to be new and desire to protectby Letters Patent is set forth in the claims.

Fig. 1 is a cross section through a seed hopper and including a sideview of one of my improved seed dispensing mechanisms;

.Fig. 2 is a view of the seed dispensing mechanism of Fig. 1 as seen from the oppo-v site side;

Fig. 3 isa rear elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a central vertical section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1. Y

Referring to the drawings, 15, 16 indi-V cate the side platesV and 17 the bottom plate of a seed hopper which extends transversely of the seedingmachine, 'the bottom being provided, as usual, with any desired number of discharge openings with each of which one of my improved dispensing apparatuses Vmay be associated. As these are all alike, only one of them is illustrated. Extending downward from each discharge'opening in the bottom plate 17 are two complementary housing members 18, 19 which are secured in fixed relation to each other and to the hopper by bolts 20, shown in Figs. 1 and 2,

and between these housing members, the

walls of whichl converge downwardly, is mounted a feed wheel 21 -thatcooperates i with said members respectively to form two separate seed passages, the dise-like intermediate portion or web of said feed wheel constituting a partition betweensaid passages. The feed wheel is adapted to rotate between the members 18, 19, and to this end `square in cross-section and passes through a square hole' in said wheel, as shown in Figs. 1` and In the illustration of Fig. 1 the feed v,wheel is designed to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction, and as there shown the housing members extend from the bottom plate 17 down around the lefthand or front side of said shaft, leaving the lower and rear portion of the feed wheel exposed. The seed is therefore discharged toward the rear.

.As best lshown at the bottom of Fig. 4,

-thefeed wheel 21 is provided at its periphery with'outwardly extending flanges 25, 26 at opposite sides thereof, which flanges cooperate with the lower portions of the members 18, 19 to form the passages through which the seed is delivered, and serve also tocarry the seed downv through the passages tothe point of delivery thereof. For controllingy the admission of, seed from the hopper alternately to either passage, I providel a .fixed plate or partition 27 which extends transversely of the lower portion of the hopper over the flange 25, thereby forming two compartments that communicate ref spectively with the two seed passages, and at one side said partition is provided with a conical hood 28 which overlies the upper portion of thefeed wheel, as shown in Fig. 4. Hinged to the ,upper marginal portion of said partition is a plate or shield 29, which may be swung to one side or the other thereof so to overlie the entrance tothe corresponding passage and thereby out off the admission of seed thereto while leaving the other passage open. Thus either passage, and that side of the feed wheel which oper- ',ates therein, may be used alone. As clearly shown in Fig. 4, the bottomplate 17 is provided with transversely disposed upwardly projecting ribs 30 that serve as supports for the outer end of the plate 29, thereby ensuring a better closure since a line contact with the plate 29 is provided for, and, moreover, the ribs aid in preventing seed from passing under the plate 29 to the outlet from the hopper, which would be apt to occur if the outer edge of the plate 29 rested directly on the hopper bottom, owing to unevenness in the surface of said bottom.

As shown in Fig. 11, the flange 28 is smaller than the iiange 25, both as to diameter and the extent to which it projects laterally, and bothv of these flanges are provided at intervals with inwardly extending ribs 31, 32 respectively, the ribs 32 being of smaller size and more numerous than the ribs 31, so that they are spaced a considerably smaller distance apart than the ribs 31, as shown in 2 The purpose of this variation is to adapt the opposite sides of the feed wheel for handling different kinds of seecsv is shown'in 11, the seed passage at each sideof the feed wheel 21 narrows toward its lower end and turns so as to be directed toward the rear, this effect being attained by the cooperation of the members 18, 1 9 and the flanges 25, 26, so that the capacity of one of said pa sages is much less than that 4of the other. As vill be readily understood, when the feed wheel 21 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1, and with the plate 29 closing the entranceto one of the seed y passages, the seed will fill the opposite pasand he fed along through it by the ribs 31 and 32, as t-he ease may be, until it is discharged through the outlet at that side of the feed wheel.

For varying the effective size of the lower or discharge portion of each of the seed passages, I provide a valve at each side of the feed wheel by which the effective area of the discharge opening at that side of the wheel mav be varied. prises a gate 33 pivotally mounted on the member 18 by means of a pin 3st provided with a spring` handle or arm 35 aty its outer end by which it may be rocked to turn the gate 33 with respect to the member 18 to vary the effective area of the passage therethrough. As clearly shown in Fig. et, the outer end of this arm bears against the housing member and serves to hold the gate in its different positions of adjustment. When the handle 35 is swung toward the left to the position shown in Fig. 1, the gate 33 will be operative to reduce the size of said passage so that the minimum discharge will occur,A but by swinging said gate to the limit of its movement toward the right, as indicated by dotted lines in that figure, it will beout of operative position and the effective area of the discharge-opening will .notbe materially decreased.V

vSimilar valve mechanism is provided at the opposite side of the feed wheel, compris in g a gate 36l mounted upon the member 19 by means of a pin 37 and adapted to be @ne of these valves corr swung for adjustment by means of a spring arm 38 carried by the outer endiof the pin 37. The operation of the gate 36 is the same as that above described in connection with the gate 33.

rIhe passage shown at the right-hand side in Fig. 1 is the one adapted Jfor use for planting small seed such as alfalfa,'clover and wheat, 'he flange 28 being comparatively narrow and the spacebetween the ribs 32 being comparatively small. As the feed wheel 21 rotates in clockwise direction as vie ved inltig. 2, the kernels are carried around toward the left by the flange 26, and after passing out of the passage will drop singly from the flange, the angular disposition and the proportions of the partsbeing such that the kernels normally fall off one at a time. rather than in a, mass. AThen eoerser and heavier seedis to beplanted the p handk passage as seen in Fig. l is used.

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reason of the greater width of the flange v25 and the greater distance between theA r-ibs 31, this fiange is appropriate for planting seed such as peas or beans. As` will be appreciated by acomparison ofliligures 1 and 2, the housing` member, 19 at the small diam-V eter side of the feed wheel extends laterally a shorter distance across the wheel to apoint of intersection with the feedv ring, and has an end surface of steeper pitch than the end surface of the housing member 18 at` the large diameter side of said Wheel'. The seed passage at the larger diameter side of the wheel is longer than that at the smaller diameter side thereof, owing tothe greater diameter of the feed wheel at that` side and he fact that said end surfaces intersect the flanges across which they extend, at points lying substantially in the same radialk plane. By this construction seedis delivered-from either side of the wheel withgreat accuracy notwithstanding the different sizes of. the seed.

Inthe construction shown, the spring arms or levers 35Hand 38 are adapted to ,engage suitable n-otches provided inthe members 18 and 19, respectively, for holding the gates 33 and 36 in the desired adjusted position.

So far as I am awa-re, I amthe first in the art to provide a feed-.wheel comprising a plurality of feed-rings or flanges of differ,- ent diameters` adaptedfor alternative use to deliver seed through separate passagesfrom ahopper communicating therewith whereby a single complete structure is enabled to operate eifectively on widelyfdiiferent kernels, and my claims are to'be construed accordingly. lVhile I prefer to employl ribs ontheinnerl facesL of the taperedflanges or feed-Krings for carryingv the seed about thereon, it will be understood that I donot lwish to limit myselfto thisform of seediengaging shoulders. except as jhereirndafter spec/ideally claimed. V

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lVhat l claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-

l. A seed dispensing mechanism comprising a hopper having an'opening in the bottom thereof, two seed delivery passages communicating with said opening, a transverse partition in said hopper between said passages, transversely-disposed ribs rising from and extending across the bottom of the hopper at opposite sides of said partition, and a plate pivotally mounted onY said partition and adapted to be turned down so that its outer portieri will lie closely upon the upper edge of the rib at either side of the partition to cut ofl the admission of seed tothe correspending passage. Y

2. A seed dispensing mechanism comprising a feed-wheel, two tapered feed-rings of different inside diameters on opposite sides of said wheel, and housing members cooperating with said wheel and said feed-rings for forming seed passages ati-opposite sides of the wheel leading partially across the lower portion of the wheel, the housing member associated with the feed-ring of smaller ydiameter being extended laterally a shorter distance across the wheel to a point of inter section with the feed-ring, and having an end surface of steeper pitch than the housing member at the opposite side.

, 8. A seed-dispensing mechanism comprising a feed-wheel, a flange on one face of said wheel, inwardly-extending ribs spaced apart on the inner face of said flange, a second flange of smaller diameter on the opposite face of said wheel, inwardly-extending ribs spaced a shorter distance apart on the inner face of said second flange, and housing meme bers associated with said wheel and saidV flanges for forming seed passagesrleading .a

partially across the lower portion of the wheel at opposite sides thereof, the housing member associated with the flange of smaller diameter being extended laterally a shorter distance across the wheel to a point of intersection with said flange, and having an end surface of steeper pitch than the housing member associated with the flange of greater diameter.

WILLARD A. VAN BRUNT.

Cal 

